On April 11, 1996, prisoners of the state of New Jersey filed a class action lawsuit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) against the New Jersey Department of Corrections (DOC) in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey. The plaintiffs, represented ...
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On April 11, 1996, prisoners of the state of New Jersey filed a class action lawsuit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) against the New Jersey Department of Corrections (DOC) in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey. The plaintiffs, represented by the Center for Social Justice at the Seton Hall University School of Law, were a class of mentally ill inmates who alleged that their constitutional rights had been violated by the denial of treatment and medication for their mental disorders.

On July 30, 1999, the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey (Judge Anne E. Thompson) approved a settlement agreement in the case. The agreement consisted of five major parts: 1) amendments to the DOC disciplinary regulations, 2) a mental health treatment plan, 3) a statement on new policies and procedures by the DOC, 4) the funding, monitoring, and enforcement of the settlement, and 5) the liability of the defendants. D.M. v. Terhune, 67 F.Supp.2d 401 (D.N.J. 1999).

On August 3, 1999, the district court (Judge Thompson) closed the case.